US man wrote 'God, I don’t want to die' before being killed by remote tribe on an Indian island
John Allen Chau knew that his life was at risk when he visited a remote tribe near India. Still, he hired five fishermen to take him there.
Chau's determination to spread what he believed was the truth pushed him into imminent danger. His journal reflected his thoughts just days before an arrow took his life.
Chau, 26, is an Instagram adventurer, a Christian missionary, an international soccer coach and a wilderness EMT. According to the Washington Post, this was his fifth trip to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands since 2015.
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On November 14, the Vancouver man set out to visit the remote island of Andaman in India's Bay of Bengel. The population is roughly estimated to be less than 100 people.
The tribe's members are known to react with violence. They reject all outsiders and are protected by Indian law. Still, the 26-year-set off on the trip without telling any friends or family so as not to put them at risk.
According to senior police official Deepak Yadav, only one friend assisted Chau in his arrangements. He, along with the five fishermen who illegally transported Chau, was subsequently arrested.
Upon arrival via kayak, Chau asserted himself with confidence. He chronicled his thoughts and interactions in his journal.
He wrote:
"I hollered, 'My name is John, I love you and Jesus loves you."
With that, a young tribe member shot an arrow at Chau. It missed him and instead pierced a waterproof Bible he held.
One of his last words in the journal was:
“You guys might think I’m crazy in all this but I think it’s worthwhile to declare Jesus to these people."
These people were about five feet five inches tall. They wore yellow paste on their faces. When Chau tried to speak to them in their native tongue and charm them with "worship songs," they became angry.
Chau wrote:
“God, I don’t want to die.”
Two days after his arrival, fishermen spotted Chau alive and well. But the next day they saw as his body was "dragged and then buried."
Several hours prior, Chau unknowingly sealed his journal with the words:
“Why does this beautiful place have to have so much death here? I hope this isn’t one of my last notes but if it is ‘to God be the Glory.’ ”
The fishermen and Chau's friends "pushed [Chau] in the mouth of death," Yadav had said.
Nevertheless, Chau's family insisted that they are released. They say that their son acted "on his own free will."
Earlier that same week, a 35-year-old US airman perished after he was stabbed in Japan.
Master Sgt. Nicholas Vollweiler was found unconscious in his Japan home according to the Air Force. Japanese police arrested a 27-year-old suspect named Aria Saito.
Saito reportedly stabbed Vollweiler in the neck because he wanted to end their relationship against her desires. Saito had planned to kill herself as well.
And back in America, a tragedy occurred again in early November when a newlywed couple died from a helicopter crash.
Will Byler and Bailee Ackerman Byler were returning home from their wedding. They struck a hillside just a mile from the Byler family ranch where the ceremony took place.
Sadly, the married couple perished, leaving their family in deep grief. An investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration is underway.